Posts Tagged ‘german crossovers’

The new GLA will be the fifth - and smallest - crossover/ute in the Mercedes family.

Mercedes-Benz is adding yet another option to its alphanumeric soup of product offerings – this time with a crossover complement to the new compact CLA model.

No surprise, then, that the new utility vehicle will be dubbed the Mercedes-Benz GLA, a name the maker has done little to conceal in recent weeks. It’s the latest in a growing list of spin-offs from the maker’s new compact vehicle architecture.

No surprise, the GLA shares many of the same styling details we’ve already seen on both the new CLA model coming to the U.S. later this year and the A-Class offered in much of the rest of the world, including the grille and headlamp layout, the crisp silhouette angles and the horizontal taillamp design.

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A concept version of the new soft-roader first appeared at the Shanghai Motor Show earlier this year. Set to make a formal appearance at the Frankfurt Motor Show next month, the production version of the Mercedes GLA will carry a 2015 designation and become the smallest of the German maker’s expanding line-up of crossover/utility vehicles notes Joachim Schmidt, Executive Vice President for Sales and Marketing of Mercedes-Benz Cars. (more…)

A hint of what the BMW X4 could look like in production trim? A concept version is due in 2011.

How many models is too many? While proliferation in the luxury car market has been intense in recent years, it looks like the high-line German marques are only beginning.

Both BMW and Porsche are well underway with the development of downsized crossover coupes that could hit market in the next couple years, according to media reports and company insiders – though Porsche’s new Cajun project is at least temporarily on hold.

The BMW offering has been dubbed the X4, and is sportier, coupe-bodied counterpart to the new 2011 X3 – or, if you prefer, a downsized alternative to the big BMW X6 coupe/crossover.

It will be offered with various 4- and 6-cylinder offerings, and probably a mix of gas and diesel powertrains for Europe. Gearboxes will include BMW’s new 8-speed automatic. All-wheel-drive appears likely to be the only torque delivery system on the planning books.

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An X3 M version of the 4-seat coupe/crossover is also under development, according to reports in AutoWeek and several other media outlets.

Word of the X4 has been circulating for at least two years but BMW apparently has given the project the go-ahead and a concept version is expected to surface on the auto show circuit sometime in 2011.